We have babies!!!

You may click on image for a larger view.

There are a total of 5. We got 10 eggs, one broke a few days later, 3 quit forming & one died before completely hatching (the shell was broken, but the baby never got out). Not bad, I'm happy. They are so cute. I'd forgotten how tiny they are. We have 3 whites, 2 as seen above, 1 black one & 1 brown one. The black one hatched yesterday (4/24) and the rest overnight & today. Momma's being so good. She's lightly pecking at them when they get out from under her & she's lightly pecking at me now that they are hatched I can still get in there & mess with them, and she doesn't seem to mind TOO horribly. She's definitely not being mean to me, but letting me know they ARE HER babies So stinkin' sweet! I'm in love all over again!

Forgot....

Thursday April 15th, we began raising mealworms for the chickens.

Log

• Today Mary was butchered. She is currently in the fridge in a bucket of salt water.
• We begin our 1-week countdown either tonight or in the morning, re: broody hen & eggs. Hoping we have babies soon!
  
• Water pipe was fixed on Wednesday which means we officially have water outdoors again. No more hauling jugs of water to the garden plots.
• Peas were transplanted to the garden last Saturday, April 10th.
• The baby bunnies were 4 weeks on Friday. They are fat & healthy. Nest box was removed on Friday, and they began eating pellets & drinking from the waterer the Friday before that.
  

It's a beautiful time here, with the exception of us all being sick. But the world keeps turning, so we do as well.

Some of my favourite homesteading/self-sufficiency links

A-Z Poultry Disease Index
Backwoods Home Magazine
Backyard Chickens (and their forum)
Backyard Poultry
Grit Magazine
How to Sex Your Rabbits
Mother Earth News
Starting a biointensive Garden
Vegetable Planting Calendar
Weather Channel (living in the Rockies, this becomes a favourite, LOL)

Active bunnies, a broody hen & a freezer full of meat.....

Today I went out to take care of Bunnicula & check her babies. They are starting to come out of the nest box to investigate. They are getting huge already. The baby that was out the first time I saw this, was sniffing at the fresh food I'd just put down & licked it a couple of times.

A few days ago I had a Buff Orpington that whenever she was in the nest box & went into the coop, would ruffle up her feathers like a peacock & "bark" at me. Today I went out to take care of the rabbits, and I decided to check for eggs one last time. Floppy was STILL in the nest box, as she was 7 hours before. I had removed the eggs from under her earlier this afternoon, so she was sitting on nothing..... It dawned on me that she is broody. I immediately texted a few times with a friend of mine that has hens & roosters to ask for eggs. I came home with 10 eggs from her various breeds, marked them & put them in the nest box with Floppy. She moved them underneath her, and I'm hoping in 3 weeks I'll be a new chickie Momma (again).

While I was over getting the eggs, they gave me a trash bag half full of frozen, sealed meat to bring home. Hubba & He had made an agreement for us to buy the deer meat he taught me to butcher several months ago. He wouldn't take payment from me, and added some elk meat to the bag as well....

A bit of an update

Baby rabbits are now 9 days old (confirmed 6 kits). They should be opening their eyes tomorrow or the next day. They are HUGE compared to when they were born. They have their fur, and they are so soft. 1 black one & 5 white with spots. Momma's doing very well this time!!

Tina Turner was re-introduced to the coop the evening of the 20th. The next day the other hen(s) were still pecking at her bum, so I rubbed vicks on her, and we haven't had any issues since. Since she was on antibiotics, her eggs are not being consumed by humans for 3 weeks. I am, however, feeding them to the pup so they don't go to waste. They are still being logged in the amount of food we raise. LT is thoroughly enjoying that treat.

We've been planting seeds like crazy. Hubba bought more plant & aquarium bulbs for my grow light set up, and we'll be borrowing 2 more light fixtures for them. I'm just running out of room. On a good note, everything that has been planted & should have germinated by now has.

My redneck greenhouse is holding up well. It was more or less a test to see if the plastic would hold in this Wicked Wyoming Wind. I don't have any use for it for still another couple-few weeks. I wanted to get it done ealry, so if it fell apart on me, I would have time to come up with another plan.

Hubba started buying 2X4's to build the greenhouse. When we moved in all of the old windows & doors from the house were under the porch. Our plan is to clean them up, paint them & use them for a greenhouse.

Baby rabbits!!!

Or as Hubba says "Congratulations, Granma."

Sometime during the night of 3/18, morning of 3/19, Bunnicula gave birth to at least 6 kits. As of last night before bed, there was still movement. After our last experience with her & babies (which I realise is normal), I've done my best not to mess with them too much, but I still remain a little not-so-optimistic. I was advised by a friend who has raised rabbits for meat, to use tongs to carefully lift the fur to see the babies. Giving momma-doe a carrot keeps her busy while I do the task. Each time I have opened the door to her hutch (to see if there's movement), I've made sure I had "something to do" so she doesn't get suspicious. I've given her carrots & added feed or water to her hutch.

I'll report back as things progress. Unfortunately, Mary will no longer be with us soon. I'd like to try her just one more time, but I'm really not hopeful at all that she'll conceive. Hey, on the bright side- I'll get to learn how to butcher a rabbit.

If Bunnicula cares for her babies, as she's supposed to, we'll be choosing a female rabbit from her litter. When breeding for pets & meat, you can & can't inbreed certain family members (I'll get to that in another post). When I told Hubba of my plans to keep one of the litter, and why, he suggested I keep 2..... just in case. Sometimes that man amazes me.